By The Book
by ASquaddreaming
Summary: Booth and Brennan are assigned to a chilling case that brings them closer together.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything I write about in this story. If I did would I spend my time writing fanfiction when I could be writing an actual episode?

A/N: This is going to be my first serious Bones fic. By serious I mean the attitude of the story will be moderately depressing and even a little gross. If you don't like that then don't read but I intend to get some fluff in here. A loud shout out to Questionablelight who beta-d the first chapter. I know two others said they would but she got back to me so fast I just wanted to post it. Next chapter I promise you'll get to beta too if you want. Hopefully, you'll all like it and keep my newly discovered other muse happy by reviewing. Reviews even encourage the serious depressing one.

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A soft chuckling filled the quiet of the dark forest. The woman screamed against the gag in her mouth, crying desperately, pleading with God to let her live. The laughter stopped and she struggled, her wrists burning from the ropes that held them together.

The man leaned down next to her and whispered, "Not too long now." She went limp; realizing that it was too late to beg for her life.

Please God, she prayed. Let my kids have a healthy, happy life.

The man dragged her body across the small clearing and tied her in place. He backed up, slowly his eyes checking to make sure everything was where it was needed. He laughed louder, daring anyone to stop him.

There was a deadly 'shuck' then silence.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"A woman was found in the woods just outside of D.C." Booth said glancing at Bones out of the corner of his eye. She stared out the window pouting slightly. "Bones," he groaned. "You're not still mad that I dragged you away from the old Indian guy, are you?"

"He was one of the first chief's of the Shawnee. There was evidence that he might've been murdered." Bones protested loudly. She turned her icy gaze on him and he suppressed a shiver. She was dressed in light layers with a dark brown jacket. Her blue eyes were accented with teal earrings. "Why do you need me there anyway?"

Booth mentally slapped himself. He did not need to be looking at her like _that_. "Because Bones, I'm sure the body was in a condition that requires your skills as an anthropologist."

The rest of the trip was silent, Booth watching the road and Bones wishing she was still at the lab.

As they pulled into the parking lot, a young officer trotted over to the SUV. Bones got out slamming the door and grabbing her pack. Booth promptly took it from her despite her objections.

The officer nodded at them then introduced himself. "Cole Maxin. I'd like to say nice to meet you but considering the circumstances…" he trailed.

Bones looked at the man. He was tall with blond hair and dark eyes. His face was serious but she could tell he was a naturally happy person.

"Agent Booth and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." They shook hands and Cole nodded at Bones. She nodded back, looking around the parking lot.

"I'm the officer that was sent to the scene. I called it in. I'll fill you in on the way."

Bones frowned. "On the way?"

"Didn't Agent Booth tell you? We've got a two mile hike until we reach the site."

Cole set off on a small path that looked relatively new. Bones smacked Booth's arm then followed the officer. Booth chuckled and jogged to catch up with them.

"A couple of dirt bikers found the body. It's pretty gruesome and the kids were freaked out." Cole lifted bright yellow caution tape out of the way for Bones and turned on a dirt trail.

Booth rolled his eyes and asked, "Gruesome?"

Cole looked back completely serious. "I'm going to have nightmares for weeks." He led them through the woods until another officer stopped them.

"Going through Cole?"

"Yeah, this is Agent Booth and Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"Well then I won't stop you."

The man smiled at Bones and Booth bristled. He sped up blocking her from view. The first thing that alerted him to the death was the smell. It was putrid and he swallowed nervously and started breathing through his mouth. It lessened the smell but when he saw the clearing, his stomach churned. Not exactly a better substitute.

In the middle stood a large wooden figure with a large sheet of metal near the bottom. The body was tied to stakes but, he noticed as he walked with Bones, the head was missing. Brennan continued walking towards the corpse as he stopped to talk to Cole.

Bones snapped on gloves and passed a cursory glance over the body. It was a woman approximately 37 to 40 years old. She moved around the guillotine and found the head. The woman had blond hair but before she could check anything else Booth was reading notes from his memo pad.

"Like the officer said a couple dirt bikers found the body and called it in on a cell phone. They claimed the smell tipped them off but until they saw the body they thought it was just a dead deer. Maxin thought it was a joke but when he saw the thing," he motioned toward the wooden structure, "He called the sheriff who called the FBI."

Bones stepped back from the body. "It's a guillotine. It was used in the 17 hundreds and the last public beheading was in 1939."

Booth frowned and asked the question, "How do you know that Bones?"

"I need the body bagged and brought back to the Jeffersonian. And Hodgins will need the bugs from the body and I'd also like samples of the trees and anything else organic." She motioned toward the nearest forensic agent who nodded and started bagging bugs.

"Yeah Bones, no problem." Booth asked again, his voice softer. "Bones how'd you about the guillotine thingie?"

He watched her take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Because, Booth, I wrote about it in my book."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I asked for Bones for Hanukkah...and my birthday...but no one will give it the show!

A/N: The next chapter! I know it took a while but I got the first season of Bones on DVD for Hanukkah. I was researching. Thanks to my beta, Questionablelight once again for doing an amazing job. You make this story so much better than it could be. Reviewers are always welcome in my circle of friends. I need normal friends...my present ones are crazy.

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"She was about 37 year's old, blond hair and I'm guessing blue eyes. I'm running the face through the recognition system now. Hopefully we'll have her identity soon."

Angela pressed a few buttons that turned off the Angelator and flopped into her chair. Her eyes fluttered shut as she relaxed, glad to pass on the responsibility to Booth and Brennan.

"Okay I'll get started analyzing the bugs. I should have a time of death for you soon."

As Hodgins' voice reached her ear, Angela glanced upwards to catch him staring at her. A quick, barely there smile sent him scurrying away to look at either dirt and/or slime. She didn't really care which.

"Alright, then I'll take another look at the rest of the skeleton to see if we missed anything." Brennan claimed, nodding her thanks to Angela.

She turned and walked quickly out of the room, Booth hot at her heels.

Lying back, Ange turned on her i-Pod, in an attempt to forget about death, and the horrible things in the world. Yet, as a few moments dragged on, being left alone became reasonably boring, so she wandered in the direction of the lab.

She was drawn into Brennan's Office at the sound of people speaking loudly.

"I just asked a simple question, Bones." Booth was leaning against Bren's desk, whilst she clicked away rapidly on her computer.

"What did you mean when you said that you wrote about it in your book?"

Brennan looked at him then, her face completely serious.

Ange smirked; he should have known better than to use a patronizing tone with her.

"I meant that in the manuscript which, I recently finished, it was how the characters died: nothing more Booth."

Yet, much as Angela wanted to stay, their conversation was starting to irritate her already forming headache. Casting one last longing look at them; she then went to find Hodgins, in the hopes of finding that he had some painkillers.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Booth sighed. She was too stubborn. One simple question was all he wanted answered. It's not like she gave him any clues on the drive back, or examining the skeleton. Bones was just too stubborn.

"Bones I don't want to tell you this but, it's necessary." He grabbed a plastic skull from her desk and proceeded to toss it in the air.

"If this murder has anything to do with your manuscript, you might not be able to investigate it with me."

"What? Why?" She stood snatching the skull from the air, amazing him with her reflexes. "Booth you know that I wouldn't kill anyone."

"Yes, but not everyone would agree with that." Her expression didn't change and he sighed.

"It's just that you sometimes seem…a little cold to outsiders."

"That doesn't mean I would kill a person."

"You're right. It doesn't mean that you'd kill a person. However it does mean that if this investigation was to go bad and you were to go to court as a suspect. I'm then going to have to get someone to ask you a ton of unpleasant questions about your past and parents, so that people will understand why you are how you are."

Booth sat on the couch, his eyes never leaving her face. "If it is necessary, I will not hesitate to remove you, Bones."

Brennan stood, a frown marring her face.

"If anyone can catch this guy it's me. If he's using my book as a guide I'm the biggest help. I know more about the characters than anyone else. Let me do my job, Booth." Her voice was quiet and he swallowed nervously.

To some degree she was right. If the murderer was using her books she would be the best help anyone could get. But, even if the killer wasn't, Cullen would still strangle him for letting her work the case. "Fine, just. . . Be careful, Bones."

She nodded and sat next to him, not quite touching; yet close enough for him to feel her body heat. He breathed in and out willing himself not to do anything stupid. Cullen was going to hate him, but, what else was new. He could get in trouble with the government, Hodgins was doing just fine. Bones would like him more.

"So…" Brennan's voice broke his thoughts. He shifted to face her.

"What do we do now?"

"How 'bout we check your manuscript?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Bones unlocked the door to her apartment and let Booth in.

He followed her footsteps into the kitchen, sitting in a chair as far away from the refrigerator as possible.

She spared him a glance then. Her lips curved into a small smile.

He looked back raising an eyebrow.

"I'll go get the manuscript." With one last teasing glance, she left him alone.

In a few seconds Bones was back, accompanied by a large stack of papers.

"So this is it." Booth stated; eyeing the stack.

"Yes. I turned in a copy to my editor a couple of months ago."

He pulled it towards him flipping through the first couple pages. When he reached the beginning he began reading, dark brown eyes taking in every word. Bones hovered nervously; Booth wasn't supposed to read her books before they came out.

"Want something to drink?"

"Please," Booth murmured, still reading.

Relieved to have something to do, Bones opened the refrigerator and took out two beers. She placed them on the counter and turned to take something from the island. The sight of Booth at her table stopped her.

It should have scared her.

Yet the sight of him; head resting in his hand as he read was oddly comforting. It was awkward that he was there, in her kitchen, but the actual image of Booth reading was completely natural. She didn't see him like that often, almost completely at ease.

Only the reminder of the murder spoiled the moment.

Shaking herself out of the daze, Bones moved as quietly as she could and set the bottle in front of him.

He murmured something unintelligible, leaving her to assume he said 'Thank you'.

Her lips twitched in a smile. Booth could be endearing when he wasn't making an effort to impress her.

The book she had been reading sat on the table, next to a bowl of fruit.

Brennan picked it up, leafing through the pages until she reached her bookmark. They read in silence, neither bothering to look up, except for the occasional glance to be sure the other was there.

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A/N: A couple people commented that I might be reading spoilers for future Bones episodes. I'd like to say that, unless I had a Bones vision, I'm making this up. Our murders are different as far as I know but I'm going to try to get new chapters up as soon as possible. I have some scenes that are good and I don't want anyone to think I borrowed them from the show... That said leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Me? Own?

A/N: Sorry it took a while for me to post this. I'm an inspirational writer and if noting inspires me I die. This chapter was origanly supposed to be longer but I just wanted to get this part out to you. I realize that it might be progressing a little slowly but there are case details in the next chapter! Yay! Anyway thanks to Questionablelight for beta-ing. And thanks for the reviews, they brighten my day.

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"Has anyone seen Dr. Brennan?"

Angela winced and looked up at the demanding face of Dr. Saroyan. The woman stood with her arms crossed, weight on one leg, in a traditional pissed off stance. Ange didn't need to be able to read body language to tell that, but it did help.

A sharp throb reminded her of the reason she had come to the lab instead of staying safe in her office.

"I think she went with Booth to check up on a lead."

Cam sighed dramatically. "When they get back, tell her to come and speak to me."

She walked away jealously coursing through her veins. Upon reaching her office, she took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

Booth would go back to her. He had to.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The forensic artist watched Cam leave, annoyed. Her voice had done nothing but aggravate the headache.

Stumbling over to Hodgin's desk she leaned over it heavily, wincing in pain. Jack spared a glance at her, blinked once, and then reached unspeaking into his drawer, bringing out a bottle of aspirin and water.

Grabbing both, Angela gulped the medicine, sighing gratefully when finished. He rolled over a nearby chair over to her, allowing her to sit down.

"Should I ask, or go back to looking for evidence of insects?"

"Normally, I don't mind the banter. But, today I just got assaulted by Cam who was looking for them. She snapped at me! I'm the innocent party in this! Haven't they heard the memo, don't kill the messenger?" Angela poked at a jar of bugs and continued, "That led to the biggest migraine I've ever had. And now, I just want to poke Cam's eye."

The insects scuttled to the other side of the jar after each violent jab. Seeing their discomfort, Hodgins slid the container away catching her hand.

"Relax Angela. Take a deep breath." He waited until she did before speaking again. "Migraines suck, I should know. It's hard to keep coming up with excuses not to be present at any of the parties around here." That earned him a small smile.

Encouraged Hodgins said, "But witty banter is fun. Why today of all days are you…irritated by it?"

She looked down at their hands; he was unconsciously rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. It was comforting.

"Because they don't seem to be getting anywhere."

Jack didn't look away, just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Brennan and Booth never seem to do anything more than argue."

"Maybe arguing is their thing? Some people flirt, some people ignore each other, they argue and try to out do each other. Besides who said they weren't getting anywhere? Would Cam be so pissed off if you hadn't shoved them in the right direction?"

Angela mumbled a "No" then smiled. "Thanks Hodgins. You've made me see the light! I don't have anything else to do today. I can scheme!" She practically sprinted to her office, sparing one last second to turn and shout, "Thanks again!"

Hodgins picked up the jar of beetles and peered in at them, "Mood swings' he sighed, 'I should know better than to get involved." He set the previously abused jar of beetles on the table, returning to the bone fragments under his microscope.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Zach tapped his fingers on the examination table. Why were people so handicapped sometimes? Even _he_ could see 'it'.

If Angela could see 'it' with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, why couldn't she see it for herself? Maybe the sayings had an element of truth. Love is blind, or if not blind; extremely impaired.

It didn't even have to be love. Strong attraction often made people oblivious to what was in front of them. Growing up in a large family had taught him that. After seeing all of his siblings live through the stages of denial and ignorance, this was a walk in the park.

The rumor around the lab was that the date went well, however Angela had backed off, afraid of what could happen. Afraid of the same thing she was pushing Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth to have. Hypocrite.

Booth didn't really fit into the blind side of things. He knew he was attracted to Brennan. The poor man lived with it every day. Dr. Brennan however…

She was clueless. While being extremely dedicated to her work she had almost no social life to speak of, only the few outings Angela dragged her too. She wouldn't know what love was if it slapped her in the face. Which similarly Booth appeared tempted to do, multiple times throughout the day. Slap her.

If only David were gone it would un-complicate things a bit. Stupid chat rooms, he'd heard they always seemed to set people up. It really was a shame the guy didn't have a criminal record of any kind, so Booth could finally do something to stop Brennan from seeing David.

Though, she might not leave David for Booth if given the opportunity. She trusted Booth but David already had a relationship with her. Zach sighed.

What a shame love was blind.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Booth stretched luxuriously, releasing the tension in his stiff muscles.

On the kitchen table in front of him sat the last pages of Bones' manuscript. He watched her read for a few moments, before he finished reading her work.

The next time he glanced towards her, she was already watching him. She flushed slightly but met his eyes. Booth felt the not-so-subtle urge to fill the now awkward silence between them.

"I liked it Bones."

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?" Her voice was suspicious and her eyes narrowed.

"Of course not. I wouldn't say it if I didn't think so Bones. I love your books."

Booth hid a smile as her face lit up in shock. Two seconds later and it was back under control, mask in place, it left only a faint hint of disbelief.

"There is a reason they gave you a car. With talent like this I'm not surprised they conned you into writing again."

It was a fun game to play, he decided. Get her so confused or shocked that she didn't know how to respond. A speechless Brennan was a rare and beautiful creature.

"I liked the part when Kathy slaps Andy's hand for trying to help put the skull back together." He said, baiting her.

"He invaded her personal space and disrupted the process. She had a right to slap his hand."

Booth couldn't help but smile at her explanation. Brennan noticed, rolling her eyes in response. "Well?"

"Well what?" Now, Booth was confused.

"Does my book have anything to do with the murder?" Plain and simple. Bones was not a particularly tactful person, yet Booth didn't think he'd like her as much if she was.

He sat back thinking. "I don't know, Bones. We don't know much about our murder."

"We know that they were both beheaded. We know that, in the manuscript, the book was already published. We know plenty; you just have to piece it together, like a puzzle."

"You work on puzzles?"

She stood, signaling the end of that particular branch of conversation. "My editor and her team are the only people who I've given a copy to."

Booth looked at her standing. "You want to go now?" he asked.

"There's a murderer out there Booth. Don't you want to catch him?"

"That's not fair," Booth warned. "We'll go tomorrow, I promise." Brennan nodded once and he stood too. "Wanna go grab some Wong Foo's?"

A smile broke out on her face. "Sure."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"See you tomorrow, Booth."

"Bright and early, Bones." He waved 'bye' as she closed the door.

She smiled, grateful for Sid's wonderful food and the comfort it brought. A passing glance around the kitchen reminded her to put away the manuscript. However the shrill ring of the telephone distracted her from the task.

"Brennan."

"Temperance, thank goodness." David sounded relieved through the phone. "I was worried when you didn't show up to dinner."

Damn, she knew there had been something she was forgetting. "Err, sorry, long day at work." The excuse sounded weak to her ears, but he bought it easily enough.

"Sure. We'll reschedule sometime."

"Yeah, talk to you later." Without waiting for a goodbye she hung up. Great now that would make her feel guilty.

Brennan sighed, grabbed the manuscript and switched off the lights, preparing for a long sleepless night.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Look, I'm just saying that a couple of the people are a little eccentric."

"I can deal with it Bones." Brennan sighed and opened the door of the editing company.

Booth followed, taking in the people silently. The elevator ride was short and the moment Brennan stepped out of the tiny box, she was swept away to an office in the corner. Booth moved in the same general direction, the crowd slowing him down.

"Temperance!" A brunet rushed in after her, closing the door in front of Booth's face.

"Umm…" Bones was cut off abruptly.

"It's been too long. All you ever come here for is business. You know that half of my staff worships you right? It'd be nice to see you more often."

Brennan sank into a chair as she was being scolded. An editor's wrath was something to avoid. "I know Anna. I'm just really busy….And I'm kind of here with business today, too. You, uh, shut the door on my partner."

Anna scuttled past Bones and opened the door. Booth still had his mouth hanging open in shock. Both women stifled a smile. "Sorry."

"No problem." He said as soon as he was inside.

Sensing his discomfort, Brennan proceeded to introduce them.

"Booth this is my editor Anna Lancey. Anna: my partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth." As they shook hands, Anna gave Booth the once over before turning back to Bones.

"So is this who Andy is based on?" The question threw Booth off track. It was funny when he teased Bones about it, but hearing it from a complete stranger was almost embarrassing.

Apparently, Brennan however was past that stage.

"I've told you before Anna, the characters are a work of fiction. They aren't based on anyone."

"And I told you Tempe, I'm not just your editor. I'm your friend."

Seeley let them argue for a while. His forensic anthropologist, the woman who was socially inept, had friends outside the squint squad. It was relieving and crushing at the same time.

Who knew when he would fade into the background of new friends?

It was disturbing to realise he was replaceable.

* * *

A/N: Angsty Booth. Sad but I enjoyed writing him that way. I'm thinking I can get the next chapter to you in maybe a week. We'll see. 


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